“As long as it takes. Hopefully only a few hours. By tomorrow we can be far away. And you,” he points a dirty finger at me, “will be free. If you do as you’re told. Go on, man.” He gets up and gestures at Aaron.
“Sure thing, boss.”
Aaron takes a coil of rope from the top bunk, grabs my arm and pushes me up, toward the chair Gabriel has just left. He forces me down on it and ties me to it. The blood gushing from my head is nearly blinding me and for the moment, I can’t think of much else but the throbbing pain.
The ropes biting into my wrists and ankles force me to focus, but by then, it’s too late. I’m unable to move a muscle. I grit my teeth in frustration as he nudges the chair so that I’m angled straight at the door. Then he looks expectantly at Gabriel.
“Perfect,” says the latter. “Now, he knows you’re alive, and he’ll be expecting to find you here. But he won’t expectme. The minute my alarm goes off…” He lifts a device out of his pocket. “We’ll know he’s within a one-mile range. I’ll hide behind the door and bash his skull in. Not fully, of course. We’ll have our fun with him before he dies. And if you behave,” he faces me witha threatening glint in his eye, “we’ll let you live. Otherwise you’ll meet your end before he does, and we’ll make him watch.”
I swallow, feeling sick to my stomach. I can’t think of a single thing to do to stop what’s about to happen. Damien, coming here to save me… and meeting his doom. I’ve never felt so helpless before. Not even when I was buried six feet underground.
Aaron begins to pace around the room, the metal soles of his leather boots clicking on the humid floor. Now that my initial adrenaline has ebbed just a bit, I take the time to study the room. It’s a tiny place, just one room with a bunkbed, the chair I’m currently tied on, and nothing else. A small window carved into the wall has been lined with iron bars. I can’t tell if the floor is made of dirt or if it’s just filthy.
I stay silent for the moment, my mind racing. I quickly saw that it was pointless to try to get them riled up enough to kill me. Gabriel is far too smart for that, and Aaron is completely under his thumb. He may get angry at me, but he’d never actually disobey Gabriel and shoot me before Damien’s had a chance to fall into their trap.
There’s no way to leave, at least not yet. They’ve tied me too tightly for me to hope to be able to wrest myself free. Anyway, they’re not planning to leave me alone. Even if I did manage to free myself of my restraints without them realizing it, the room is so small they’d stop me before I had time to get to the door. The window is too small even for my slim frame, especially with those iron bars. No matter how I turn matters over in my mind, there’s just no way to get out of here.
What else can I do? How can I save Damien?
I hunch myself over, feeling the ropes tug against me. Outside, the trees stand like stark phantoms under the light of the moon, which casts a strange, disturbing glow on the forest. The wind howls, rattling the dusty window pane, making the orange-red leaves rustle in the distance, seeping through the dilapidatedwooden boards of the house. It brings with it the nauseating smell of fresh dirt.
I turn away, gagging. My helplessness overwhelms me again. I just can’t accept that this is how it ends.
I still hold onto one hope. That Damien will somehow sense the trap. That he’ll be able to escape it. But that would mean… leaving me behind. Letting me die. Somehow, I can’t imagine that he would.
Funny. It was not so long ago that you were convinced he wanted to kill you. And now you think he would sacrifice himself to save you?
I really am a masochist. My brain seems to latch onto whatever thought will bring me the most pain. Damien the assassin who will kill you. Damien the hero who will die.
I let my mind wander to memories of a different kind of pain, the kind that always made my body hum with need. Damien’s hands on me, all over me, the way he dominated me, the promise of punishment that I saw in his eyes right before I was taken.
I want that punishment. And I want him. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
This just can’t be how it ends.
There’s one consolation at least. If he walks into Gabriel’s trap, I’ll get to see him again.
I’m startled from my thoughts by Aaron’s impatient grumbling.
“How long do we have to wait? It’s been three hours already. Getting hungry.”
“Shut up,” snaps Gabriel. “It may be far longer.”
“It took us thirty minutes to drive out here, and one hour to walk. That’s one hour and a half—”
“Great, you know how to do basic math,” congratulates Gabriel snidely. “Now fuck off and wait.”
Hissing, Aaron crouches on the floor, about halfway between the window and me. His eyes remain glued on me while Gabriellies down on the lower bunkbed, apparently without a care in the world.
A little while later, Aaron clicks his tongue. “It’s taking so long,” he whines.
“Oh my fucking God. If you talk again, I’ll shoot you.”
That quiets Aaron, but only for a minute. Then he says, “What if…”
“Clearly you think I’ve grown soft, spending the last few months in that motherfucking prison,” cuts in Gabriel, aiming his gun at him. “But if I hear one more complaint out of you, I will put a fucking bullet in your skull, so help me God.”
I look up, allowing myself to grow hopeful again as I see Gabriel begin to lose his cool. I guess the wait is getting to him too, and hearing Aaron complain must really grate on his nerves.
